


An Unexpected Evening

by acercrea



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Arsenal FC, F/M, Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-09 19:38:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3261908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acercrea/pseuds/acercrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Victoria comes home to a strange footballer in her flat, who invites her to an Arsenal party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1: Shirtless Footballers in My Living Room

An Unexpected Evening

Part 1: Shirtless Footballers in my Living Room

Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is just for fun.

I am free for a month. I can't believe it, but I made it. Finals are done, I don't have to think about school until the new year. I am elated as I unlock my front door and enter my sitting room, looking at the stack of mail in my hand.

"I am free until next year and I want to celebrate, can we go out tonight? To the pub or to see a film, anything, I just want out of this flat tonight," I called, putting the mail in the table.

"You must be Victoria," a male voice said.

“Oh, I was expecting you to be my roommate," I replied with my hand on my chest as I tried to get over the shock.

"I have startled you, I am so sorry. You come home and there is a strange man in your flat," he started.

"No, it's fine," I interrupted him because I just got the first good look at the man standing in my flat and suddenly I wonder if I am dreaming.

"Where are my manners. I am Aaron. Aaron Ramsey," he said, holding his hand out.

"Um, yeah," I responded, shaking his hand, "I know who you are."

"Really?" he asked, a little leery.

"Yeah," I replied, taking my shoulder bag off and showing him the Arsenal patch on the front.

"Oh, thank God. I was worried for a moment you might be a Man U or Hotspur supporter. They tend to not like me much," Aaron joked.

"Can I ask a pressing question?" I asked.

"Shoot," he replied.

"What happened to your shirt?" I asked him.

"Long story," he chuckled.

"I have time for a long story. Didn't you hear? I am free for a whole month," I told him, putting my bag down as I settled in on the couch and motioning him to sit across from me.

"Well," he started with a chuckle as he sat down. "I was walking down the street in town, holding a cup of coffee in my hand. I got distracted answering a text message and tripped over a curb, spilling my coffee all over my shirt. Your roommate, Skye, saw me stumble and took pity on me.

"She came over and after checking that I was alright, she told me that she lived less than a block away, and I could clean up here if I wanted. She is in the other room, putting my shirt in the wash and trying to find me something to wear," he finished with a slight blush.

"That is not a long story," I pointed out.

"No, I suppose not," he conceded with one of his knee-weakening grins, scratching one of his eyebrows almost shyly.

"But it is an embarrassing one, so I was hoping you would be deterred by the threat of a long story and I would be spared telling it," he finished.

"It is not so embarrassing. I once fell asleep in class and knocked my very hot tea all down the back of the boy I fancied in the row in front of me. Now that was embarrassing, and ended any chance of him reciprocating my crush," I told him.

"I doubt that," he replied.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You are intelligent, easy to talk to, and very pretty. Unless he is thick, boring, and blind he fancied you," Aaron replied with a smile.

Suddenly it was my turn to blush. I was about to respond when I heard my roommate call from the other room, "Vic, is that you?”

"Yeah, Skye, it is," I responded, cursing her timing.

"I need your help with something, can you come back here?" she asked.

"Yeah," I called to her. "I'll be right back and we will finish our conversation then."

"Don't take this personally, but I hate you a little bit right now," I told Skye quietly as soon as I entered her bedroom.

"What did I do?" she asked with a pout.

"Aaron Ramsey was telling me that I am intelligent and pretty and you called me away," I told her.

"Aaron Ramsey, that is one of those footballers you like, right?" she asked.

"Yes, Aaron Ramsey is one of those footballers I like, and he is in our sitting room," I replied, starting to get frustrated with her.

"Is that why he looked so familiar? I thought he was from my econ class," she told me.

"Please tell me you are kidding," I responded.

"Of course I am kidding. We have been best friends since grade school, I know who Aaron Ramsey is. I just went over to be nice, but once I saw who it was I knew you would kill me if I didn't at least try to get him up here so you could meet him. Are you freaking out? Did he really say you are pretty?" Skye asked me.

"Yes, he did. And no, not freaking out exactly, but wondering if I am dreaming. I do want to get back out there though, so what did you need?" I asked her.

"I was wondering if you had a shirt that would fit him. I told him I would try to find one and I have nothing his size, but I remember you have some oversized shirts you sleep in sometimes. Do you think any will fit him?" Skye asked.

"I have just the one," I replied with a mischievous grin, crossing the hall to my room.

"Sorry about that, Skye didn't have anything in your size, but lucky for you, I have been using this as a sleep shirt," I replied handing him a red t-shirt, our fingers brushing in the exchange.

"Thank you, Victoria," Aaron said, pulling the shirt on.

"Anytime," I responded with a blush, my fingers still warm from touching his. He let out a laugh as he read the shirt.

"What is so funny?" I asked him.

"You really weren’t kidding about being a Gunner, were you?" he asked.

"Don't act like you have never seen the shirt before, I bought it at a home match," I teased him.

"Fair enough," he conceded.

Even in a shirt that read 'Gunner Girls Do It Better! Win, Lose, or Tie, Gunners Till We Die,' he was still the hottest thing I had ever seen. "So, did you and Skye settle on plans for tonight?" he asked as he sat back on the couch, making himself at home.

"No, why?" I asked.

"Well, I was wondering if you girls would like to come out with the team."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. Podolski has some friends coming into town so he rented a club downtown for the night and invited the whole team, and you girls have both been so kind to me, so I want to invite you to join us to say thank you," Aaron replied.

"We wouldn't want to intrude," I started.

"Nonsense, I think Poldi has invited half of London. He isn't really one for intimate affairs. Please? I won't take no for an answer," Aaron insisted.

"Well, I can't speak for Skye, but I would love to go, thank you," I responded.

"Really? Brilliant, that is wonderful," he responded grinning ear to ear.

"What is wonderful?" Skye asked, coming into the room.

"Aaron invited us to a party Podolski is throwing for some of his friends and the team. Do you want to come?" I asked.

"Sure, sounds fun. Your shirt is going to take about an hour and a half. We could watch a movie while we wait," Skye suggested.

"I can't believe you think this is a good movie," Skye grumbled two hours later.

"It is a great movie, you just have no taste," I shot back, throwing some popcorn at her.

"What do you think Aaron, you are the tie breaker," Skye asked.

"I think that Victoria is right about air-popped popcorn being better. It is fantastic," he replied, reaching into the bowl, grabbing a handful, and lobbing it toward Skye. Suddenly there was an all-out popcorn war in the apartment.

By the time the buzzer on the dryer went off, the war was over and Aaron was digging the vacuum out of the closet to help us clean up.

"You really don't have to do that," I insisted, trying to take the appliance from him.

"It is no trouble. I started the popcorn fight, so it is only right that I help clean it up," he responded, taking the machine back from me.

"Well, when you put it that way," I agreed, moving the table off to the side of the room so he could clean under it.

Once we were finished, I grabbed his shirt from the dryer as he moved the table back into place.

"Your shirt, Sir," I told him, holding the garment out.

"Thank you, Miss," he responded with the same mock-formal tone as he swiftly took off the borrowed shirt and replaced it with his now clean one. It was almost unnoticeable, but I saw him shiver as the fabric touched his skin.

"Cold?" I asked.

"No. There are few things in this world that feel as good as a shirt fresh out of the dryer. I assure you it was a shiver of pleasure,” he replied, taking a step closer to me.

“Oh, well that is good then,” I responded, getting a little bit flustered at his sudden proximity.

“We never did finish our conversation earlier,” he casually mentioned as he handed me the shirt he had just taken off.

“Which conversation is that?” I asked.

“The one about the boy who fancied you,” he grinned.

"I scalded his back, there is no chance he fancied me," I responded.

"You would be surprised what a boy will forgive a pretty girl," Aaron countered, moving even closer to me.

"There you go calling me pretty again, you are going to give me a complex if you keep that up," I replied, feeling my face flush bright scarlet.

"Victoria, your beauty is only exceeded by your wit, both of which you have in abundance," he answered, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

The mood was suddenly shattered by the ringing of a phone.

“Shite,” Aaron whispered as he stepped back, digging his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the screen and said, “I am so sorry, I have to take this. The party starts at 9, so I will be by around 8:30 to pick you and Skye up. The dress is somewhere between nightclub and black tie. I will see you soon, Victoria.”

Skye came out of her room when she heard the front door shut behind him. “Did Aaron leave?” she asked me.

“Yep,” I replied, still processing what had just happened.

“Did he give us any details about tonight?” Skye questioned.

“He will be here at 8:30 to pick us up, dress is more formal than club attire, less formal than black tie,” I responded, my eyes not leaving the door.

“Are you ok? You sound weird,” Skye noted.

“I think Aaron Ramsey almost kissed me,” I answered her.

“What? How did that happen?” Skye asked, pulling me to the couch and making me sit down.

“Well, we were just talking as he exchanged the shirts and he got really close to me, then he brushed some hair behind my ear as his cell phone went off. Oh my god, I can’t believe Aaron Ramsey tried to kiss me,” I squealed, burying my face in the shirt I was still holding.

“What?” Skye asked when I suddenly let out a groan.

“He even smells perfect. This man is trying to kill me with his perfection,” I replied, holding the shirt out so she could smell, too.

A/N: Let me know what you think. I generally post all of my fics on my Tumblr first, the link is [here](http://www.acercrea.tumblr.com/) if you want to check that out. You can request a fic if you want either here or there.


	2. Mistletoe on Strings

An Unexpected Evening Part 2:

Mistletoe on Strings

Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is just for fun.

 “Skye, he will be here any minute, how am I not done yet?” I asked a couple of hours later as Skye was doing my make-up.

“You keep talking while I am trying to put lipstick on you, that is how. Now hold still, I am not kidding when I say you are almost done, but if you keep talking we are never going to finish,” Skye scolded, holding my chin with one hand and trying to apply lipstick with the other. “I know I said it earlier, but you are lucky I had a lipstick the exact shade of your dress on hand. Ok, you are done, you can look now,” Skye told me a minute later, turning away and capping the lipstick.

I jumped out of the chair and ran over to the full length mirror, only to stop short when I saw myself. “Oh, Skye,” I whispered awestruck. I was in a strapless, tea length red dress with a sweetheart neckline and a white belt that sat around my natural waist, just above where the skirt belled out elegantly. My hair was pulled back in a delicate chignon with tendrils framing a face that I had a hard time believing was mine because it so resembled a porcelain doll. My eyes were bold and smoky, balancing the red lips that did indeed match my dress, and there was a slight rosy glow to my cheeks.

“Here, finishing touches,” Skye said, draping a necklace strung with red stones around my neck and handing me matching teardrop earrings.

“Garnets?” I asked, putting the earrings in.

“Yep. Aunt Marie always gives me birthstone themed things for Christmas so I can wear them for my birthday in January. Ok, you look gorgeous; he is not going to know what hit him. I am going to put on my dress now, but I vetoed your shoe choice; his is too tall for you to wear flats. I laid out a pair of heels for you by the couch, go put them on,” Skye ordered as she disappeared into her room.

I was slipping the black heels on when there was a knock on the door. “Just a second,” I called, hopping over to the door trying to get my foot into the shoes.

I opened the door was met by Aaron who did a double take at the sight of me. “Wow, Victoria, you look incredible. Um, I mean, these are for you,” he told me with a blush creeping over his cheeks as he handed me a small bouquet of flowers.

“Thank you, they are lovely. Shall I take your coat? Skye is still getting ready, so it will be a couple of minutes,” I explained.

“Yes, thank you,” he agreed, taking off his coat to reveal  a dark grey vest with a matching tie over a long sleeve red button-up shirt and black slacks. I hung his coat up on the hooks behind the door and made my way to the kitchen.

“You also look very nice. Would you like something to drink while we wait?” I asked as I hunted in the cabinets for a vase to put the flowers in.

“No, thank you, I am fine. I am finding it hard to believe you had the absolute perfect dress to wear to an Arsenal party just sitting in your closet,” he replied as I brought the vase over to the coffee table.

“That is a funny story actually. Skye had talked me into buying the dress almost a year ago for a Christmas party I never wound up going to, and I am suddenly very glad she succeeded. Otherwise I would have had nothing to wear to this thing,” I joked as I sat down on the couch and motioned him to sit in the chair across from me.

“Why didn’t you wind up going to the Christmas party last year?” Aaron asked as he sat down.

“Because the guy who invited me told me two days before the party that he had finally worked up the courage to ask the girl he actually wanted to take but had thought would never say yes to him and that he was going to take her instead,” I responded.

“What a ponce. Please tell me that you made up that story, because I refuse to believe that anyone would be a big enough idiot to not only turn you down, but to do it so cruelly. Tell me that there isn’t a man out there who is such a massive dunce,” Aaron told me.

“You keep doing that. Why do you keep talking about me like I am some mythically beautifully creature, like a siren or a nymph? I don’t really don’t know what to do with that,” I remarked.

“Because I find it fascinating that you don’t seem to know just how beautiful you are. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone look so effortlessly stunning and not seem to have any idea about it,” he replied.

“Well I know I look pretty now, but Skye spent the last half hour doing my hair and make-up. It is easy to look good when you have someone helping. But this isn’t me,” I told him.

“You know, you are annoyingly on time,” Skye grumbled with a smile as she joined us in the living room. “Some of us need more time to look presentable. You look very fetching, Aaron, shall we go?” Skye asked, greeting him with a friendly kiss on the cheek as he stood up to greet her.

“As long as Victoria is done berating me for being so audacious as to call her beautiful,” Aaron teased.

“I tell her that all the time, she doesn’t believe me either. Come on then, she can chide you just as easily from the car,” Skye ordered, pulling me up and practically pushing us out of the door.

**

“Wow, it looks amazing in here. Podolski did all this?” I asked as we handed out coats over to the girl manning the coat check.

“I imagine Monika had a large part in this, but Podolski does nothing half way. I am sure he spared no expense. Shall we?” Aaron offered each of us an elbow and leading us further into a room with tinsel, icicle lights, and fake snow hanging from every surface in sight, with 7 fully decked out Christmas trees, and sleigh shaped benches dotting the room.

“Aaron, you made it. And you somehow found two dates since the last time I talked you. How on earth did you go from having no date to having two in under 6 hours?” Podolski asked.

“Long story short, I made a fool of myself and these lovely ladies took pity on me, so I wanted to thank them,” Aaron replied.

“Well, Monika is going to be thrilled that you brought two positively stunning women with you, she worries that you never date,” Lukas mentioned.

“I will do my best not to disappoint her. Lukas, this is Skye and Victoria, two of the kindest women I have ever met. Victoria is an avid Gunner and Skye does not like Victoria’s taste in films. Ladies, this is Lukas Podolski, the best host you could ever hope for,” Aaron introduced as Lukas shook our hands and kissed us on both cheeks in greeting.

“Ladies, welcome, anything at all you need, let me know, I will make it happen. We are delighted to have you here. And do be kind to Aaron, he is one of the good ones,” Lukas chuckled as he clapped Aaron on the shoulder.

“Actually, Lukas, could you help me carry drinks? Great, Vic, red wine? And what about you Aaron?” Skye asked.

“Scotch neat, Macallan’s if they have it,” Aaron requested.

“Coming up,” Skye replied, looping her arm through Lukas’ as they walked over to the bar.

“Skye isn’t very subtle, is she?” Aaron asked me.

“Not even a little bit. She really likes the idea of the two of us together,” I commented.

“Is that a bad thing?” Aaron asked.

“No, but-“ I started but I got cut me off.

“Aaron, how are you this evening?” Olivier Giroud interrupted us.

“I am well, Oli, how are you?” Aaron greeted his teammate with a hug.

“Also well. I think you have been holding out on me, though. Last I heard you did not have a date, but here you are with the most ravishing creature I have ever seen, if you don’t count my wife. I am Olivier,” the Frenchman introduced himself holding his hand out.

“Victoria. Pleased to meet you,” I replied, blushing a little bit as he leaned down and kissed the back of my hand.

“I assure you the pleasure is all mine. How did this handsome devil sweet talk you into accompanying him this evening?” Olivier asked.

“I am actually a huge Gunner, so he didn’t have to do much convincing. My roommate Skye took a little more arm twisting, but she is over by the bar getting us drinks, so he must be very persuasive. I will have to watch myself I guess,” I answered.

“I think you will be ok. He is a gentleman, even if he did manage to talk two young ladies into accompanying him tonight. You will have to save me a dance,” Olivier requested.

“How could I say no the Man of the Match from the Newcastle match? I am so glad you are back from injury, 3 months is too long,” I replied.

“You really are a Gunner. I look forward to our dance later on,” Olivier promised as he left us and walked over to the bar.

“So why are Lukas and Olivier different than me?” Aaron asked, turning to face me again.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Lukas called you stunning and Olivier called you ravishing, yet you did not correct them, you accepted the compliments easily and with grace. I am just wondering what makes them different from me,” he commented.

“Um,” I stuttered, trying to figure out what the difference was.

I was saved having to answer because Lukas took that moment to reappear. “Here are your drinks,” Lukas said, handing us each a glass. “And I am going to have to borrow Victoria, I want to introduce her to some people,” Lukas spoke, grabbing my hand and leading me away from Aaron.

“But Poldi, we are in the middle of something,” I tried to pull my hand back as the German dragged me across the floor. I looked back to see Aaron watching us as we walked away and take a sip of his drink.

Our eyes locked and it looked like he was going to come after us, but Monika came over just then and he gave me a look that said he was in the same boat from over her shoulder as she hugged him.

“Victoria, I would like to introduce you to some of my National Team teammates and our guests of honor. This is Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, Marco Reus, Manuel Neuer, Mario Götze, Mats Hummels, Erik Durm, and the Bender twins, Lars and Sven; men this is Victoria,” Lukas introduced, pointing to each man in turn.

“Hey, what am I?” Andre Schürrle protested as Lukas skipped over him.

“You live in London, I see you all the time. It is not special that you are here,” Lukas replied.

“I am injured, Lukas. Montana and I had you and Monika over just last week, and you almost didn’t leave. How am I not special?” Andre asked.

“It is ok, Andre, I know who you are. Actually I know who all of you are, you guys were incredible at the World Cup this summer. Your opening match against Portugal was amazing, and I still believe that if Thomas’ head had connected with the ball instead of the defenders shoulder you would have won the Ghana match, too. I think the match against Brazil was the greatest thing I have ever seen in my life, and that final? I was so pissed at the ref for not calling anything when you are basically getting steamrolled, but then Mario comes on and scores one of the most beautiful goals I have ever seen. I think the only thing that would have made it any better is if Marco had been healthy enough to compete,” I interjected to distract them from a potential argument when I saw Bastian opening his mouth.

“Beautiful, articulate, and she knows her football. Please tell me this almost mythical creature is not being wasted on an Arsenal man,” Thomas replied in awe.

“As a Gunner I resent that. I am here with Aaron, besides which, Thomas, Lisa is far more beautiful than I am, although I appreciate your flattery,” I answered shaking all of their hands in turn.

“She is modest enough to be German. Ramsey found himself the perfect woman. How long have you been dating him?” Bastian asked.

“Well, I met him this afternoon, and he picked me and my roommate up at 8:30, so for about an hour,” I joked.

“And she is funny, too? It is just not fair that Ramsey found you first. Any chance that he fancies your roommate more than you so that one of us actually has a shot with you?” Marco asked.

“Not a chance, he looks at Victoria like she is the only woman on the planet,” Lukas answered for me.

“Oh, Lukas Podolski, you do exaggerate,” I responded.

“Hardly. He is doing it right now,” Lukas replied and gestured subtly with his hand.

I turned and my eyes locked with Aaron, who was indeed looking at me like I was something worth seeing. He gave me a nod and a smile in acknowledgement, which I returned then turned back to the Germans as I felt myself flush bright red.

“Oh my god, you two are so cute I think I am going to be sick. Why do Englishmen get all the good women? Is it the accent? Tell me it is not the accent,” Mats Hummels asked me.

“The accent doesn’t hurt, but it is more than that,” I replied.

“Is he a good kisser?” Mario asked.

“Why, do you want to kiss Aaron when she is done with him?” Marco asked, giving Mario a playful shove.

“No, but that is an important part of it,” Mario replied with a pout, turning bright red.

“Relax, I was just kidding,” Marco soothed, draping an arm around Mario’s shoulders and punching him lightly on the shoulder.

“Tell you what, I will let you know after I have kissed him, how’s that?” I told Mario.

“Deal,” Mario agreed with a smile on his face.

Just then Skye came rushing up. “Sorry, boys, I am going to have to steal Vic away, I need her help with something. Congratulations on winning the World Cup this year,” Skye rushed out, as she pulled me away, calling the last bit over her shoulder.

“Skye, what the hell, there is a shoulder socket attached to the arm, and I would like to not dislocate anything tonight,” I protested as she led me up a staircase at the back of the room.

“I need your help,” Skye told me.

“No you need a therapists help. What is up?” I asked as she led me to a balcony overlooking the room.

“Who is single?” Skye asked.

“Seriously? That is what you dragged me away from some of the best, not to mention some of the sexiest footballers on the planet to ask me? You have a smart phone,” I reminded her.

“Yes, but you know me, you know all of the single footballers, and you have an idea who I will be most compatible with. So, tell me, who should I focus on?” Skye asked.

“Well, let’s see who is here. The Bender twins, Lars and Sven are talking to Giroud, they are single, and hot as hell, if you go for one of them I recommend Sven, Lars is the more dominant twin, so you might butt heads with him, you both have very strong personalities. Erik Durm is single, the one who looks like a Ken Barbie doll talking to Mertesacker, the huge bloke over there, but very religious, so keep that in mind if you go after him. Özil, the guy talking to Podolski, is single, and lives in town, but doesn’t speak a lot of English. Marco Reus is single and desperately needs a wag, he just had to pay a huge fine for driving without a license for years, which would never have happened if he had a girlfriend or wife to look after him. I mean, Thomas Müller does some stupid things, but there is no way Lisa would let him drive without a license. I would recommend either Calum Chambers or Wojciech Szczesny. Calum is the blonde talking to Aaron at the moment, he is a little young, but he lives in town and he is British, so there is no language barrier. Woj is talking to Manuel Neuer at the bar; he is Polish, but he speaks English well and he is an Arsenal man, so he also lives in town. Can I get back to the party now?” I asked.

“Yes, you have been very helpful. Go dance with Aaron,” Skye prompted.

“Have fun picking your new victim,” I called as I walked down the ramp.

I heard her chuckle as I reached the bottom of the ramp and almost ran into Olivier. “Oh, I am so sorry,” I apologized.

“Not a problem. I was actually looking for you, I was going to collect on that dance you owe me, if you are still interested,” he replied, holding his hand out.

“Yes, that would be lovely,” I answered, taking his hand and letting him lead me to the dance floor.

“You are not used to all of this attention, are you?” Olivier asked as he started to lead me in a waltz.

“What gave you that idea?” I asked.

“You deserve it, you know. The attention. You are gorgeous, and you hold yourself in a way that says to me you have no secrets. You are an open book as long as someone is willing to read it, but no one has for a while, so you have forgotten you are worth the effort. I think you could be good for Aaron. And he really is one of the good ones, you should give him a chance. He might just be what you need to come all of the way out of your shell,” Olivier spoke.

“But what if he is not?” I asked.

“Not every relationship has to be an end all, be all relationship. But sometimes it is worth the trying and failing if it leads you to something wonderful,” Olivier told me with a shrug.

“Olivier, do you mind if I cut it? The song is almost over and my date has been monopolized for most of the evening,” Aaron clarified.

“Of course. Be good to her, my friend,” Olivier said, placing my hand in Aarons.

“I will do my best,” Aaron replied as he wrapped me in his arms.

“I think this is the best party I have ever been to,” I told him as I settled into his embrace as he led me around the floor.

“Glad to hear it. I know this may be a risky move, but have you figured it out yet? Why you are more willing to accept compliments from Lukas and Olivier than from me?” he asked me.

“They have only seen me liked this. I am very pretty tonight, but it isn’t me. That is why it is different,” I replied.

“It looks like you,” Aaron said.

“It doesn’t feel like me,” I countered.

“What does it feel like?” he asked.

“Like an illusion,” I replied.

“If it is all just an illusion, it is a pretty amazing one,” Aaron told me.

“That doesn’t make it not an illusion. What if tomorrow we wake up and you realized what you want isn’t real? What makes you think that the pretty illusion is actually something real?” I asked, stilling our movement.

“Because I said it earlier, too,” he replied, leading me to a corner of the room.

“What?” I asked.

“I told you you were pretty this afternoon, when you had no make-up on. You have a smile that lights up the entire room and makes your face glow in the most amazing way. And your eyes are bright and expressive, and make me feel like I could fall down them to the depths of your soul. You effortlessly command the attention of every person in the room, and you have no idea that you do. And I have known women who could spend 8 hours getting their make-up done and not look half as beautiful as you do right now. They wouldn’t even look as amazing as you did this afternoon. And I know that wasn’t an illusion,” he replied, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear and cupping my cheek and I felt truth in his words. Just like that I decided that if Aaron was a mistake, he was a mistake I was going to fully commit to. The warmth of his gaze melted my insecurities away as his eyes burned into mine.

I caught sight of green over the top of his head as I looked up into his eyes and realized he had stopped us under some mistletoe. “You know,” I started, moving closer to him again, “if you really wanted a kiss, you didn’t need to stop us under the mistletoe.”

I leaned forward and closed the distance between us before he could even turn around to see where I was looking. Aaron froze for a second before he melted into the kiss and took control of it, kissing me gently, but with the hint of passion under the surface. I realized in that moment that he would have eventually broken me down, no matter what I did to keep him out. Sometimes you just had to take a leap and trust the other person not to drop you.

“Wow,” he breathed as he pulled away, both of his hands moving up to cup my face.

“Yeah,” I agreed with a huge smile on my face that mirrored his.

Suddenly the mistletoe drooped down and hit Aaron in the head. “What the heck?” he asked as we both looked up and realized that the mistletoe was attached to a string dangling from the balcony above, held aloft by a human hand.

“Lukas Podolski, you better not be on the other end of this string, or so help me,” I called as I tugged on the string.

“It worked, didn’t it?” Lukas replied as he let the string drop.

“Give him a break. I can think of something much better we can do right now,” Aaron chuckled as he leaned in again.

A/N: Let me know what you think. I generally post all of my fics on my Tumblr first, the link is [here](http://www.acercrea.tumblr.com/) if you want to check that out. You can request a fic if you want either here or there.


End file.
